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Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.¹

The feeding of the 5,000 is probably a familiar story to Christ-followers: the miraculous provision, the tender compassion, the life-giving teaching. It is within this narrative of teaching and training his disciples, of meeting the needs of the multitudes, that Jesus offers a remarkable invitation to come away with Him to a quiet place.

The word retreat comes from the Latin verb retrahere, which means to pull back, to withdraw. Sometimes, we need to step away from the day-to-day so that we can get a better view of where we are, where we are headed, and where we might need to make a course adjustment.

Your business is to fix his attention on the stream of immediate sense experiences. They find it all too impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Do remember you are there to fuddle him.²

So Screwtape counsels his nephew Wormwood, a demon in training. Parents, above all others, are immersed daily in the mundane. The daily needs, so familiar, can easily eclipse the unfamiliar. From time to time, we all need a “pause that refreshes.”³

As you prepare for CMER 2025, recall Jesus’ invitation and take a few moments to consider what is drawing you to this Retreat and to prayerfully offer up these needs and desires to the Great Provider, God Himself.

Consider also how reachable you will be while on retreat and what role technology will be permitted to play. It is good advice to—literally and figuratively—close the tabs on your browser. Turn off the phone. Ask, “What else?” is needed so that you may find rest, hear a fresh revelation, and be fully present in the gift of the time we will share. Prepare to enter into the silence and the conversations through which God may speak to you at the retreat.

1. Mark 6:31b ↩︎
2. Lewis, C.S. Screwtape Letters ↩︎
3. Karon, Jan. At Home in Mitford ↩︎

We are looking forward to our book discussion at the retreat as one of our evening activities. Please join us in a relaxed time of gathering together to share our thoughts and discoveries after reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th century novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Published in 1886, this story is one most of us know in some form, whether we have read it or not. Its interesting portrayal of the enigmatic Dr. Jekyll whose experiments to separate himself into two personalities, the one wholesome and virtuous and the other full of every vice, has proved fascinating to readers since its publication. So much so, that there have been adaptations of the story up through recent history from the Bugs Bunny cartoon to The Far Side comics and even a musical. As we follow Dr. Jekyll’s story, the compelling questions it raises about the human struggle with evil will provide fertile ground for our discussion. I hope you’ll join us!

As you read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, consider keeping a Commonplace book to record the passages and dialogue that spark your interest and enjoyment, raise questions, and invite reflection.